Big features, small package, small price

Nikon has another winner on its hands with the P80. You've got most of the great SLR features in a smaller body with a reasonable price ($350-$400).

What is most amazing about the P80 is the size. The camera body is surprisingly small and light, but feels sturdy. The plastic doesn't squeak or flex when pushed on, and all the buttons have a firm click to them. Good tactile feedback is disappearing from consumer electronics, but I'm glad to see Nikon sticking with it. The P80 is easy to hold and feels comfortable. It's not really a "one-handed camera" like some smaller pocket-sized ones, but it's not heavy and bulky to carry like a Canon Digital Rebel is.

The lens is of course a remarkable piece, and is the most obvious component. It's a big sucker, offering 18x optical zoom! Frankly, I am still amazed that something of this size offers such magnification. I see professionals in downtown Chicago lugging around those big lenses and can't help but laugh. I have yet to see another digital camera that offers built-in 18x optical zoom. Some of the other SLRs do 10 or 12x, but 18x is 50% more. The lens is big, yes, but it's actually not that obtrusive. It sticks out at the front and is pretty wide, but it's still very manageable. Aesthetically it's a pretty boring camera...all black with minimal accents. Very ho-hum and forgettable.

You get a nice LCD screen on the P80, though it doesn't offer the extreme brightness or pivot/swivel features of other cameras. For under $400, I wasn't expecting to see this. The screen is still adequate 95% of the time, and is a good size should you not use the viewfinder (like most).

Of course I bought the camera for taking pictures, not to impress my friends with it's sleek body or big lens. And so far, I must say that picture quality is pretty good given the price. Nikon has their own proprietary image processing chips that clean things up a bit (a la Canon's DiGiC or whatever) should you not have Photoshop. Out of the box and in full-automatic mode, most people will be satisfied. Colors are acceptable and the range of contrast is nice and wide. Intensity isn't quite up to that of a Digital Rebel, G9, or other more expensive camera...but for most people they'll be fine. I doubt that pros are buying this camera anyways.

In particular, I have been impressed with the macro capabilities. My old Coolpix seemed to do well in this regard too, so Nikon has obviously continued to place this as a top-priority. The shutter lag is low as well, though not on-par with a Digital Rebel or G9. You absolutely MUST use a high-speed SD card or the lag gets bad. I run a "133x" Kingston card and it seems to be under a half second. As an added bonus, the faster card improves battery life.

Video is acceptable as well given that the primary use of this camera is for digital stills. I do like how you can record videos for an unlimited length, whereas other cameras only allow a maximum of a few minutes.

The flash is actually more powerful than I expected, and conceals nicely when not in use. It can illuminate a medium-sized room without any problems, but at close-range it can be a bit much. Something odd is that you have to manually deploy the flash, at which point it will then go off...the camera in full-auto mode will not use the flash unless you've "released it", which is odd to a novice user.

The camera interface and navigation features are very straight-forward, and there are no "hidden menus". All the options are very straight-forward and easy to find, and the owner's manual gives thorough explanations. I am the kind of person who "learns by doing", and I had figured out most of the camera functions in just a few minutes of playing around. I am a big fan of the SLR-like dial on the top for selecting shooting modes. This has proven to be a HUGE plus when I quickly want to swap from portrait to landscape, or even auto and manual. Other cameras make you do this through menus and button pressing. Another high-end feature that has trickled down to a midrange device.

Most users will be fine using the automatic mode. A person wanting to experiment or with a bit of experience can of course try the manual modes and play with different ISO settings among other things. Again, this kind of adjustment isn't normally seen in $400 cameras.

What I think Nikon really blew it on was the battery and memory card placement. The battery looks like it belongs in a cell phone, quite frankly. It's quite small and hence battery life suffers if you use the screen heavily. It holds enough of a charge for moderate use, but anyone planning on using it all day should opt for a spare battery. I suppose this is the price you pay for such a small and light camera. I'm still not sure why we're always forced to use proprietary batteries and chargers in cameras...oh wait, it's because Nikon wants to squeeze us for more money down the road.

The memory card is in a stupid spot too -- next to the battery. You have to flip open a door on the bottom to eject the card. For a pro this is unacceptable, as switching on-the-fly is faster and easier. A typical home user probably won't be swapping cards often (if at all). At least Nikon stuck with cheap SD memory and offers SDHC support for the big 4GB cards.

Another annoyance is the lens cap. It doesn't click into place or anything, and just sort of dangles off the corner when you remove it. I'm always nervous that it'll break off and I'll lose it.

Nikon throws in some extra software and garbage...I didn't bother installing any of it or even opening the CD sleeve. You also get a big owner's manual, some advertisements, USB cable, video-out cable (who even uses these?), charger, and various other parts. I suggest getting a small carrying case or bag, as the included strap is thin and cheesy.

Overall I would say that Nikon's Coolpix P80 is a solid buy. For under $400 you're getting the legendary Nikon name on a sleek and thin SLR with a massive lens and straight-forward picture taking. Sure, the battery life is mediocre, and the lens cap is cheesy, but these are small gripes.

Serious users need not apply, but anyone wanting to move their way up into better photography should start with the P80. Hard to beat for $400.